The Jets were expected to be one of the worst offenses in the NFL last season - maybe one of the worst in NFL history. But under first-year offensive coordinator John Morton they did more offensively than anyone imagined.

In the end, though, everyone around the Jets seemed to think it wasn't nearly enough.

So Morton was fired by the Jets on Wednesday in a move that had been in the works for several weeks, according to a source. Head coach Todd Bowles had been at odds over the team's offensive philosophy for most of the last half of the season, the source said, and he had been considering the move since late in the year.

Almost certainly the decision will meet with the approval of many of Bowles' other assistants and players. According to one veteran offensive player, there was universal frustration in the locker room with Morton's play-calling - both specific sequences and his general offensive philosophy. A source also confirmed a report that Morton clashed with other assistant coaches over the same issues.

Under Morton's guidance the Jets had the 28th-ranked offense in the NFL (305.2 yards per game) and they were 24th in scoring (18.6). Those aren't good numbers, obviously, but the preseason expectations for the Jets were comically low given what was viewed as a startling lack of talent on the offensive side. And there was some initial excitement when the Jets started 3-2 and veteran JoshMcCown got off to a hot start in what became a career year in Morton's scheme.

But according to a Jets player, as the year went on there was an increase in the internal grumbling about the direction of the offense. Among the gripes, the player said, were not utilizing speedy receiver RobbyAnderson enough on deep routes (Anderson caught 63 passes for 941 yards and seven touchdowns), not involving the tight ends enough in the passing game (though AustinSeferian-Jenkins caught 50 passes for 357 yards and three touchdowns) and too often abandoning the run.

That last part bubbled over in a 25-20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in late October, when veteran running back Matt Forte blasted Morton publicly after finishing the game with only four carries for seven yards.

"Definitely surprised by that," Forte said. "I felt like we only ran the ball maybe 20 times. That should've been at least one person getting 20 carries with the way the weather was. I thought we were going to grind them out on the ground, but it turned out not to be that way.

"Everybody knows that was the game plan and that's what we wanted to do. I don't have to get on a headset and tell somebody how to do their job."

Things didn't get much better after that, as players began picking apart specific sequences - particularly in the red zone where the Jets started to struggle and the play calls often seemed to make no sense, a player said.

With the Jets heading into an offseason where they likely will try and find a new quarterback and have nearly $100 million in cap room to bolster their offense, it actually might be the perfect time to make a switch, even though Morton's replacement will be the Jets' sixth offensive coordinator in the last eight years - and third in four years under Bowles. There may be enough new players next season that it will feel like starting over anyway.

It's probably better to start over in a scheme the players like.

The most likely replacement is quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates, according to a source, but it's not clear if he wants the job. Three other outside candidates have been mentioned in reports: Todd Haley, who was just let go as the Steelers offensive coordinator; John DeFilippo, the Eagles current quarterbacks coach; and Brian Callahan, the Lions quarterbacks coach.

Bowles and Haley worked together in Dallas in 2005-06 under Bill Parcells.

As for Morton, who came from New Orleans to replace the retiring Chan Gailey after the miserable 2016 season, he had been in the running to join Jon Gruden's staff in Oakland, but did not get that offensive coordinator job. The Jets had given him permission to look into that possibility, which is likely why they waited 2 ½ weeks to let him go.

The former Jets quarterback was signed by the Washington Redskins on Monday to serve as Colt McCoy's backup, per Field Yates of ESPN.

The Redskins were in need of another quarterback after Alex Smith suffered a season-ending injury, breaking his tibia and fibia, which required immediate surgery, during Sunday's 23-21 loss to the Texans.

On This Date: The infamous Jets-Raiders 'Heidi Bowl' changes football forever

Nov 17 | 12:53PM

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Oct 14, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets former quarterback Joe Namath Before the National Football League game between the New York Jets and the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports (Vincent Carchietta)

It was set to be a good Week 11 matchup between two top teams in the American Football League. But, on this date 50 years ago, a game between the Jets and Raiders would change professional football forever.

On Nov. 17, 1968, the Jets took a late 32-29 lead over the Raiders with 1:05 left to go in the fourth quarter. The game was being aired on NBC, and after cutting to a commercial following the score, the game never came back on.

Instead, the movie "Heidi" ran at its 7 o'clock start time despite the game not being over. And, of course, the game ended in dramatic fashion with the Raiders scoring two touchdowns in the final nine seconds to win 43-32.

This is a terrible time for New York football, with the Giants and Jets sitting on what feels like rock bottom. They are a combined 5-14 this season, and the playoffs are already out of reach. And they are a combined 13-38 (.254) since the beginning of 2018.

But while there may not be hope at the moment for either team, there is still some talent on their two rosters. If they could only somehow combine the two, they might even have the makings of a playoff team.

The Jet Stream: The Fear is Real

Nov 13 | 5:49PM

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Nov 11, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles leaves the field after a game against the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports (Brad Penner)

On the latest episode of The Jet Stream podcast, Jonas Schwartz and Willie Colon face the reality that Jonas' fear of a loss to the Bills came true in the worst possible way. The guys look at the potentially very short future of the tenure of Todd Bowles, wonder if Mike Maccagnan deserves the blame as well, and hand out some hardware - that's right - the bye week means a mid-season award show on The Jet Stream!

See 'Jets Nation: Midseason Report' on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. on SNY

Nov 15 | 4:32PM

Sam Darnold sits down with Jeane Coakley to chat rookie life in New York, on Jets Nation: Midseason Report, Thursday at 6:30p on SNY.

Sam Darnold sits down with SNY's Jeane Coakley to chat rookie life in New York, including watching NBA games courtside with Josh McCown.

"I would not have been able to play professional basketball," the Jets quarterback said. "Those guys are freak athletes that can also shoot the ball and can handle it, so it's pretty incredible to watch them play up close."

See the full interview on "Jets Nation: Midseason Report," Thursday at 6:30 p.m. on SNY.

Now halfway into the 2018 season, the safety says it's same old, same old.

"Honestly, I can sit here and sugarcoat everything, but things have not changed," Adams said Tuesday on WFAN's "Carlin, Maggie and Bart" show. "Obviously we're still losing and I'm not saying that we have guys like that in the locker room. But at the same time it's not changing, it hasn't changed and we've been losing. At the end of the day we're going to get it fixed, and the sun will shine."

New York could use all the help it can get on defense -- with Sunday's 41-10 loss to the Bills serving as the latest bit of evidence.

Flowers, who was taken by the Bengals in the sixth round in the 2014 NFL Draft, has played in five games with the Lions this season, including their season-opening loss to the Jets on Sept. 10. He tallied one solo tackle and one assist for Detroit before the team cut him on Oct. 10.

Many of Maccagnan's moves have been suspect, but he did land Sam Darnold

That may not seem fair, considering they came to New York together in 2015 and have had equal hands in this Jets mess ever since, but that's the way it appears to be, according to several sources familiar with the Jets' thinking. Bowles seems to be on the fast track to being fired after the season while Maccagnan's job doesn't appear to be in danger at all.

And the reason is simple: Maccagnan's job is to build for the long term, and his long-stated plan has been to compete for a playoff berth in 2019. All his moves -- including moving up in the draft to land the Jets their franchise quarterback -- have been with that goal in mind. And part of that plan was to capitalize on the $100 million-plus in salary cap space he created for them to use next offseason.

A day after the Jets were crushed by the Bills, head coach Todd Bowles was as even keeled as usual during his roughly eight-minute conversation with reporters on Monday.

Bowles, whose job status is tenuous, said he has not yet spoken with Jets owner Christopher Johnson about his future.

Johnson declined comment on Bowles after Sunday's game.

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WATCH: Rex Ryan calls Jets loss to Bills 'one of the most humiliating defeats' in team history

Former Gang Green coach says everyone should lose their job

By John Healy | Nov 12 | 10:16AM

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Rex Ryan on 'Get Up' (via @raymanjr, ESPN)

Rex Ryan is not pulling any punches when it comes to his former team.

A day after the Jets' 41-10 loss at home to the Matt Barkley-led Bills, the former Gang Green head coach appeared on ESPN's 'Get Up' and called it "one of the most humiliating defeats' in team history. And that is coming from the man who coached the Buttfumble game.

Click below to watch...

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PHOTOS: Back pages in New York after Jets' humiliation against Bills

Head coach Todd Bowles might not be head coach very longer

Nov 12 | 8:58AM

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Nov 11, 2018; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles leaves the field after a game against the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports (Brad Penner)

The Jets were humiliated by the Bills on Sunday, with calls coming after for the team to fire head coach Todd Bowles.

Click below to see how the back pages in New York reacted...

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After humiliating loss to Bills, it's time the Jets consider moving on from Todd Bowles

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- A year ago, Jets owner Christopher Johnson made it clear he won't judge Todd Bowles on wins and losses alone. He said his evaluation would be about "progression" and whether or not he saw it would "be obvious to all."

It certainly was obvious on Sunday afternoon when the Buffalo Bills humiliated Bowles' Jets 41-10. New York looked unprepared, disinterested and incredibly incompetent.

And if Johnson wasn't considering firing Bowles before that, he certainly has to be now.

Jets' Jamal Adams: '[Todd] Bowles is not the problem ... I don't care what the fans say'

Jets players defend Bowles after blowout loss

Nov 11 | 5:28PM

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New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles looks on before his game against the Indianapolis Colts at MetLife Stadium. (Vincent Carchietta/USA TODAY Sports)

Jets safety Jamal Adams and cornerback Buster Skrine were among the players who defended head coach Todd Bowles after Sunday's 41-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

"T-Bowles is not the problem," Adams told reporters. "I'm gonna ride with T-Bowles until the end. It doesn't matter. I don't care what the fans say. It's T-Bowles. I'm gonna support my coach."

Sunday's loss, an embarrassment in which the Jets were outgained 451-199, committed two turnovers and trailed 31-3 at halftime, was New York's fourth straight loss and dropped the Jets to 3-7 heading into their bye week.

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Winners and losers from the Jets' Week 10 loss to the Bills

Jets head into bye on four-game losing streak

By Bent | Nov 11 | 7:17PM

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New York Jets quarterback Josh McCown reacts during the fourth quarter against the Buffalo Bills at MetLife Stadium. (Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports)

The Jets head to the bye week with a 3-7 record after a humiliating 41-10 loss to the Bills. Let's review three of the best and worst performances from Sunday's game.

Losers

QB Josh McCown

In his first start since last December, McCown was disappointingly erratic. He went just 17-for-34 with two interceptions, as he had five passes batted down at the line of scrimmage. Most of his 134 yards came in garbage time, as he averaged just four yards per attempt. Moreover, the majority of those yards came after the catch as the Jets ran an uninspiring horizontal passing offense.

Jets Takeaways from Week 10's loss to the Bills

It's fair to wonder if the team just quit on Todd Bowles in this game

Todd Bowles, Jamal Adams and other Jets players voice their disappointment after their blowout loss to the Buffalo Bill

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - A week ago the Jets threw away their playoff hopes with a loss in Miami, but at least they showed some fight in that game.

This week, against the horrible Buffalo Bills, the Jets didn't show up at all.

In what has to be one of the worst losses in a franchise history filled with terrible losses, the Jets absolutely embarrassed themselves in their 41-10 loss to the Bills on Sunday. They were down 31-0 in the first half to a team that had totaled 20 points in its last three games. They were outgained 186 yards to 1 - one! - in the first quarter and 313-68 by halftime.

If these truly are the final games of the Todd Bowles era, the Jets have an enormous, franchise-defining decision to make. If they expect to be a contender in 2019, if they expect Sam Darnold to be their long-awaited franchise savior, the next coach they hire absolutely can't miss.

So whom could they hire to replace Bowles? Here's a look at 12 candidates that figure to be on their list:

New York Jets Week 10 preview and prediction

McCown takes over at QB with Darnold hurt

THE GAME

The Jets (3-6) vs. Buffalo Bills (2-7) at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday, Nov. 11, at 1 p.m. ET.

THE WEATHER

It'll be a chilly day, with temperatures topping out in the mid-40s and moderate winds. It should be sunny, though.

WHAT IT MEANS

The Jets pretty much took any real meaning out of this game by losing to the Dolphins a week ago. A win only gets them back to 4-6 heading into their bye week, and they'd still need a miracle against a tough schedule after Thanksgiving to even sniff a shot at the playoffs. So all a win does is make them feel a little happier heading into their week off. But a loss? Whoa, would that turn things in a bad way against the Jets. This is an awful Bills team that even the Jets should crush, especially with veteran Josh McCown taking over at quarterback for a suddenly shaky Sam Darnold. If they lose this game, they could be headed to a season worse than last year, and there may be nothing that could save Todd Bowles' job.

The Jet Stream: Getting the Boot

Jonas Schwartz is joined by NFL Network's Brian Baldinger and ESPN's Rich Cimini

Nov 10 | 7:00PM

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Oct 28, 2018; Chicago, IL, USA; New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold (14) jogs off the field after the second half against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports (Patrick Gorski)

On the latest episode of The Jet Stream podcast, Jonas Schwartz is joined by NFL Network Analyst Brian Baldinger and ESPN's Rich Cimini to discuss the injury to Sam Darnold, who watched practice in a walking boot on Tuesday. They break down the strained foot of the rookie quarterback, the progress of his on-field development, and the state of the Jets moving forward as the season starts to splinter for Todd Bowles.

The Jets will activate QB Davis Webb from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, SNY's Ralph Vacchiano confirmed. And while the Jets haven't officially confirmed it yet, Webb is expected to be the team's backup.

Why Sam Darnold's foot injury may be blessing in disguise for Jets

Struggling rookie QB could benefit from watching veteran Josh McCown

Todd Bowles talks about Josh McCown starting in place of Sam Darnold this Sunday vs the Bills

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - The Jets had no intentions of sitting Sam Darnold, no matter how much he's struggled over the last few weeks. They were going to let him play through his growing pains, to find his own way out, no matter what it did to their season.

Maybe that's the right way to do it. No doubt most NFL quarterbacks would argue that it is.

But given how lost he's looked on the field for the last three weeks, it couldn't hurt for Darnold to watch a little from the sidelines. So maybe this strained foot he suffered will turn out to be a blessing in disguise.